Team India’s star batter and multi-format captain Shubman Gill has returned to the field after recovering from a neck injury that kept him out of the Test and ODI series against South Africa. Although he made his comeback in the T20I series, his return was underwhelming as he managed to score only 4 runs. This brief failure allowed another player to surpass him in the charts.

West Indies captain Shai Hope, who leads their ODI and T20I sides, has now overtaken Gill to become the highest run-scorer of 2025 across formats.

Hope shines again in New Zealand
While Shubman Gill faltered in the first ODI against South Africa, Shai Hope made the most of the opportunity. On the opening day of the second Test between West Indies and New Zealand, Hope played a stabilizing innings even as the rest of the West Indies middle order struggled.

Having already scored a brilliant century in the first Test, Hope continued his strong form. Though he couldn’t convert his start this time, his 48-run knock was the highest score for his team in the first innings. With this, his total tally for 2025 reached 1,749 runs in 47 innings across all formats — the most by any player this year.

Can Shubman Gill regain his position?
Hope’s performance pushed Shubman Gill down to second place. Gill has accumulated 1,736 runs in 40 innings in 2025. However, the year is not over yet. As the captain of India’s T20 side, Gill still has four innings remaining in the ongoing India–South Africa T20 series. A strong performance in these matches could help him reclaim the No. 1 spot.

Summary of Day 1 in New Zealand vs West Indies
On the first day of the Test match, West Indies started well with a 66-run opening partnership but failed to build on it. Before being forced to leave the field due to injury, New Zealand pacer Blair Tickner picked up four wickets, playing a key role in limiting West Indies to just 205 runs. Debutant speedster Michael Rae also impressed with three wickets.